Chương 160: No Way Out

They reached the dungeon camp shortly before midnight, far earlier than Morran had expected when he offered double payment for arriving within half a day instead of following ordinary wagon speed. The final section of road had been miserable even with Protection reinforcing the carriage. Roots, exposed stone, and deep mining ruts constantly challenged the suspension while Sieghart pushed the engine harder than intended.

When the carriage finally stopped, Morran remained completely motionless beside Sieghart for several seconds, his hands still gripping the seat despite there being absolutely no reason to continue holding anything. Sieghart shut down the Fire Runes and stepped from the driver's position without difficulty. Morran attempted doing the same, immediately swayed sideways, and grabbed the carriage frame before gravity embarrassed him further.

His balance had apparently become accustomed to several hours of constant shaking. Standing upon perfectly stationary earth now seemed significantly more difficult than surviving Sieghart's experimental approach to high-speed transportation. Morran planted both feet widely and waited until the surrounding camp stopped moving inside his head. Sieghart watched him briefly, feeling remarkably little guilt about the situation.

"You alive?"

"I don't want to do this ever again..."

"That wasn't the question." Sieghart ignored him and examined the camp while Morran attempted remembering how walking worked. The settlement surrounding the dungeon was considerably larger than the temporary collection of tents Sieghart expected. Dozens of canvas shelters occupied flattened ground beneath the mountain, accompanied by wooden storage buildings, equipment racks, cooking fires, water tanks, medical tents, and several reinforced structures obviously intended for longer expeditions.

Lanterns illuminated almost every major path despite the late hour. Miners, guards, merchants, healers, and laborers continued moving around the site instead of sleeping, giving the entire place nervous energy. Several wagons stood unloaded beside stacked mining supplies, while another section contained broken weapons, damaged armor, cracked shields, and enough bloodstained equipment to suggest the dungeon had been troublesome recently. The mountain rose behind everything like a dark wall beneath the moonlight.

Near its base, several wooden towers and stone barricades surrounded an opening barely visible between reinforced support beams. From this distance, the dungeon looked disappointingly ordinary. It resembled a large natural cave leading beneath the mountain, without glowing portals, impossible doors, or anything announcing ancient supernatural reconstruction. Sieghart found that slightly reassuring. He had learned what happened when something looked interesting underground.

The sound of their unusual engine had already attracted attention. Several people emerged from nearby tents while others approached carrying lanterns, apparently wondering who arrived around midnight without horses. Someone recognized Morran first.

"Morran?" Another man hurried forward before Morran finished recovering his balance, followed quickly by several workers whose attention shifted immediately toward the reinforced cargo compartment behind Sieghart.

"You made it!"

"Did you bring the charges?" Morran nodded and took one careful step away from the carriage. His legs almost betrayed him again, forcing him to disguise the stumble by placing one hand casually against the vehicle.

"They're here." The effect upon the camp was immediate. Several workers shouted toward the storage area while others began clearing space beside the carriage before Morran even explained anything else.

"Get the crates unloaded."

"Carefully." Morran pointed sharply toward one approaching worker.

"Very carefully." Sieghart opened the rear compartment while six people gathered around the cargo area. Their expressions became visibly relieved when they saw the reinforced explosive containers secured exactly where Greymill workers placed them. The straps had shifted slightly during the journey but remained intact. Protection apparently prevented enough vibration that none of the dangerous containers showed cracks, loose lids, or other creatively terminal problems.

Workers began carrying the crates away two at a time, moving them toward a reinforced shed near the mountain while another person checked every warning seal beneath the lamplight. Only after confirming the explosives had survived did Morran finally turn toward Sieghart. The merchant looked exhausted, mildly nauseous, and painfully aware that he had promised extra payment.

"Sorry." Sieghart raised an eyebrow.

"I can't pay you more than what I promised." Sieghart looked toward the dungeon camp, then toward the workers carrying his cargo. He had never expected additional payment merely because Morran discovered his carriage possessed questionable speed limits.

"That's fine." Morran studied him suspiciously, perhaps expecting negotiation after spending hours trapped beside someone willing to accelerate explosives simply because double payment had been mentioned earlier. Instead, he reached inside his coat and removed a heavy leather pouch. The silver inside produced a satisfying metallic weight before he handed it toward Sieghart. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"One hundred silver." Sieghart accepted the pouch, checked the approximate weight without counting everything individually, and stored it beneath his coat before looking toward the dungeon again. Money had never been the most interesting part of this agreement. The payment covered transportation and future repairs, but access to an unfamiliar dungeon was considerably more valuable personally. Morran started walking toward the camp before suddenly stopping.

"You know, I never asked your name." That was true. They had spent several hours together discussing vehicles, explosions, directions, trade, and Sieghart's suspicious age without handling the most ordinary introduction. Sieghart considered using a completely false name. That would probably become smarter once his travels carried him farther from Seraphina, especially whenever his appearance changed significantly. Still, using his complete name would be unnecessarily risky.

Emberhart remained connected to one of the most famous Aura families in human territory, and Sieghart had no intention of inviting that connection.

"Sieg." Morran waited.

"That's it?"

"That's enough." Morran sighed. Sieghart left him and approached the edge of the camp, where the dungeon entrance remained surrounded by activity despite the hour and the growing exhaustion visible across everyone nearby. Several armed guards stood beside the reinforced cave mouth while workers carried ropes, food, water, medical equipment, replacement lamps, and tools toward organized piles near the entrance. Sieghart activated Magic Vision briefly.

Mana drifted outward from the cave in slow waves, considerably denser than the ambient energy surrounding the camp but lacking the corrupted color he remembered beneath Bellhaven. That was encouraging. Morran finally regained enough balance to join him, though his first several steps remained suspiciously wide whenever the ground changed elevation beneath his boots. Sieghart pointed toward the darkness beyond the support beams.

"What monsters are inside?" Morran followed his gaze toward the dungeon entrance.

"Earthworms." Sieghart waited several seconds.

"Earthworms."

"Very large earthworms." That improved the explanation only slightly. Morran described pale subterranean creatures capable of burrowing through compact soil and weakened stone. Their bodies sensed vibration, heat, and mana through the surrounding ground. Some were only several meters long, making them dangerous but manageable for trained dungeon workers. Larger specimens could grow wide enough to swallow a person without needing much effort. They attacked from almost any direction.

Floors broke beneath people, walls burst open without warning, and ceilings occasionally released worms after the creatures tunneled through supporting layers above explorers. Sieghart looked toward the mountain.

"So cave-ins are normal."

"Small ones." Morran's expression became noticeably more serious as he watched the workers carrying blasting equipment toward the entrance under careful supervision.

"This one wasn't small." The expedition had been exploring a newly opened lower passage when several worms attacked simultaneously, collapsing part of the primary return tunnel and separating twenty-three people from the surface. A narrow ventilation crack still connected both sides. Voices could pass through certain sections, allowing rescuers to confirm that most of the trapped expedition remained alive. Unfortunately, widening that opening manually risked destabilizing additional stone.

The rescue workers needed controlled blasting charges to break through the thickest obstruction without bringing half the passage down afterward.

"They've been trapped for three days." Sieghart frowned. That was considerably worse than he expected.

"They brought supplies?"

"Enough for an expedition."

"Not enough for being buried." Food and water were already becoming limited because nobody expected an ordinary survey operation to transform into several days of isolated underground survival. The larger problem was combat. Earthworms continued reaching the trapped group through smaller tunnels, forcing miners, explorers, guards, and one exhausted support mage to defend their temporary position repeatedly.

"They've barely slept." Morran pointed toward the cave.

"Every time the worms stop, they start clearing rubble. Then more show up." Sieghart imagined three days of darkness, limited supplies, unstable stone, and attacks emerging from walls without enough warning to establish proper defensive positions. The trapped expedition probably was not especially powerful. Morran had already explained that most members were workers, miners, and explorers rather than elite Aura fighters. That did not make their situation any less dangerous.

A support mage with limited mana would become nearly useless after repeated battles unless the group possessed enough Restorers or mana supplies. Sieghart, naturally, did not possess that particular problem. He looked toward the cave again. He had planned to investigate the dungeon after the emergency ended. Entering while an expedition remained trapped would complicate everything unnecessarily.

At the same time, sitting outside while other people handled the rescue seemed inefficient when Sieghart possessed endless mana, healing, barriers, constructs, and several spells particularly useful underground. Earth Creation could reinforce unstable passages. Water could carry supplies. Magic Vision might identify concentrations of mana through thinner stone before worms breached unexpectedly. More importantly, helping now would get him inside faster. Sieghart considered that motivation. Not heroic. Still useful.

He turned toward Morran.

"I can help." Morran blinked.

"With unloading?"

"The rescue." The merchant's eyebrows pulled together immediately as he looked Sieghart over again, apparently remembering that the person offering assistance still appeared approximately fifteen despite driving like somebody actively insulting mortality.

"You said you knew some magic?"

"Yes." Morran glanced toward the dungeon entrance, then toward several armed rescue workers preparing equipment while healers organized stretchers nearby.

"Sieg, a little magic won't help much down there." Sieghart crossed his arms. Morran continued before he could answer.

"The support mage trapped inside already knows magic. Unless you're some trained mage from Seraphina, you'll probably create another person they need rescuing." Sieghart remained silent for a moment. Technically, Morran had given him an extremely convenient answer.

"I came from Seraphina." Morran stopped. His eyes moved toward Sieghart's unusual carriage, expensive clothes, suspiciously young face, complete lack of horses, and the confidence of someone offering to enter a dungeon after midnight.

"You're actually a mage from Seraphina?" Sieghart considered correcting the details. Then decided against it.

"I came from there." Morran stared long enough to recognize the difference between what he had asked and what Sieghart had actually answered.

"That isn't the same."

"No." Morran slowly rubbed both hands across his face. For someone who had hired a strange teenager to transport explosives through the night, apparently this was the moment his judgment finally began troubling him. Before he could ask another question, a deep vibration rolled beneath the camp. Sieghart felt it through his boots. Several lanterns shook. Loose tools rattled across nearby tables. Then something enormous struck stone somewhere deep beneath the mountain.

Everyone near the dungeon entrance immediately stopped moving. A second impact followed. Closer. Morran's expression changed. One of the guards beside the cave shouted toward the camp.

"Movement in the upper tunnels!" Workers abandoned conversation and reached for weapons. The demolition team stopped carrying explosives and began moving the crates rapidly away from the entrance. Sieghart looked toward the darkness. Magic Vision activated. Far beneath the cave mouth, something large disturbed the mana flowing through the earth. Then several more signatures appeared around it. Morran looked toward Sieghart. The argument about whether a little magic would help apparently needed to wait.